Gene (band)

History

Before they were Gene, the band started as The Go Hole, a name lifted from a fictional club in John Clellon Holmes' novel Go. In 1987, they put out a single called "Flight of Angels" on Big Pop Records. After expanding to a four-piece, they changed their name to Sp!n. The group was founded that same year by Lee Clark, who handled vocals and guitar, and bassist Darryl James Walton, known as Daz. That partnership didn't last long; Walton was quickly replaced by John Mason on bass, with drummer Matt James, nicknamed Wrigley, joining shortly after.

Walton shifted into the role of manager, using his contacts to book shows across London. The band's first single was recorded in the same studio where The Ruts cut "In a Rut," and it came out on Walton's own Big Pop Record label. Early momentum came from a John Peel session, and the band mingled with the Camberwell arts scene, rubbing shoulders with members of The House of Love, My White Bedroom, and comedians Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer. Walton kept handling gigs, contracts, and press for the four-piece lineup.

After a year and a half, Clark, Mason, and James brought in John's brother Steve Mason to play lead and rhythm guitar, which let Clark concentrate solely on singing.

Two singles, "Scratches (In the Sand)" and "Let's Pretend," appeared in 1990 and 1991, following an album recorded with producer Stephen Street. Then came a car crash. John Mason suffered a head injury and spent 11 days in a coma; Walton was also hurt. The day before the accident, Clark had handed in a letter of resignation, fed up with Walton's direction. Clark later said the breaking point was the album title In Motion, which he called a painfully obvious wordplay that was beyond tacky. An EP called Hot Blood came out in late 1991. Music journalists stopped writing about the band as fresh and exciting, instead leading with stories about the crash and injuries, which forced a major shake-up.

Disillusioned with the music industry, John Mason became a writer. Clark cut some demos with Andrew "Snake" Newton, Sp!n's former live sound engineer, then quit music to teach primary school. Feeling he was getting too old to be a rock star, Clark went back to playing and recording in his bedroom, returning to that after a break of about ten years.